En Plein Air

This weekend we had the pleasure of the company of Linda and Phil for the weekend.  They arrived late Friday night in their brand new vehicle, a whippety little VW Tiguan the same colour as Rover the Landrover and looking like  they came from the same kennel. We considered putting a clock and hot water bottle down in the garage for the new pup on its first night, but decided it would be OK.

The weather was gorgeous so it was an outdoorsy weekend, with lots of eating in between trips to the beach. Saturday afternoon David had orchestra practice, so the rest of us tried out the new toy on Tallwoods Drive, a pretty and very short stretch of dirt road leading from Tallwoods to Lakes Way.  Then it was into Forster for oysters and a revisit of Phil's boyhood caravan memories of the beach and campground.

On Sunday, the Art Commune reconvened, this time for beach paintings en plein air at Black Head beach. Phil and I were Moral Support, while the artists got on with it.

Here is the scene: the headland at Black Head.

Here is David's work in progress...

Here is Linda's work in progress...

And here is Marjory's work in progress...

I can't wait to get down to the frame shop. The walls around here need filling up!

Meanwhile, Phil and I went for a walk on the headland being painted. It has some spectacular bits on the eastern seaward side.  This is Razorback Rock, with a massive wave breaking into the pool just at our feet.

Back at the art commune some dolphins were sighted just off the beach, gliding in and out of the water and heading north at quite a clip. Phil ran to the water to try to swim with them.

But they remained just out of reach. The waves were so beautifully formed, you could see the dolphins inside the glassy blue-green wall before it broke.

Well, not actually in this picture, it just shows the beautifully formed wave about to break.  Later, one of those big waves, not so beautiful, dumped Linda and gave her the washing machine treatment, very upsetting. Respect the sea, never trust you are safe. On the strength of that I decided against a surf, and had a swim in the pool instead.